Timeline for "See" vs "Can see" - ultimate question
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
3 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Apr 7, 2020 at 16:08 | comment | added | Dan | @KateBunting Perhaps, but then say you're peering through branches to find a cat, it's entirely possible upon sighting said cat you'd come out with "I see a cat!" There are, of course, certain setups that might elicit "I can..." at the start of a sentence, but that feels a different discussion to this one. | |
| Apr 7, 2020 at 16:04 | comment | added | Kate Bunting | If there's a slight difference, it's that you would say "I see a cat in the tree" if you have just noticed the cat, and "I can see a cat" to mean that it is near enough to see, or that it is within your field of view. | |
| Apr 7, 2020 at 15:15 | history | answered | Dan | CC BY-SA 4.0 |